


Armin the Cupid

by SerphenySlayer



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/M, It's not even valentine's day but whatever, Valentine's Day Fluff, brief bullying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-18 17:46:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11295621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerphenySlayer/pseuds/SerphenySlayer
Summary: It's Valentine's day and Armin finally has the courage to confess his crush to Annie! He's got everything planned out, so what could go wrong?...except for the fact that he also unwittingly volunteered to deliver letters in a ridiculous cupid costume.





	Armin the Cupid

**Author's Note:**

> Hey this is a short drabble I came up with when I remembered the time i dressed up as Cupid for my Phi Theta Kappa bake sale on valentine's day.  
> I know I need to finish my other chapter for my previous work, but I just felt like writing this, idk.  
> Please excuse me for grammatical errors and run-on sentences. I am still learning how to make a proper story! Dx

It was a Friday morning on Valentine’s day before school and Armin was in the kitchen making waffles. His grandfather was still in bed sound asleep, allowing the whole kitchen to himself, which was pretty sweet. Eren and Mikasa, who lived down blocks two with their father, would be here any moment to drop by so they could all walk to school. Occasionally they would arrive early to help make breakfast and chill before going. Other times, Armin would be the one going to the Jaegers’ house. Their father, who was a doctor, often left very early and wouldn’t have time to prepare breakfast, which meant they would often spend it with him. Such was the case almost every day. Next to his backpack was a plastic bag of letters to send to all his friends. Nothing romantic, all of them were candies that said stuff like “Happy Valentine’s Day”, which was meant to be distributed to all his friends. There was however, one that he didn’t want anybody to see and which he kept in a separate plastic bag. It was addressed to Annie with a “Roses are Red” limerick and a box of assorted European chocolates.

Yesterday in the privacy of his bedroom after he came from Eren and Mikasa’s house, he had gotten to work on the card in preparation. Within five minutes, he felt in dismay that it was probably the one problem he couldn’t solve. _How_ do you write the perfect card for the person you have a crush on? Hour after hour he worked until his wastebasket was full to the brim with rejected letters. He couldn’t stop the butterfly feelings in his stomach every time he would think about her. Would she like his gift? What if she laughed at him? She was not exactly a sweet person like Historia or Sasha. What if she beat him up out of disgust thinking he was joking? As if on cue, the doorbell rang just as Armin was taking the waffles out of the oven.

“Hey Armin, is your grandpa up?” asked Eren grinning, despite the early morning.

“No, he went to bed a little later than usual yesterday, so he’s just taking it easy today. I made breakfast, help yourselves guys!”

“Thank you, Armin, we couldn’t thank you enough,” said Mikasa. She was wearing a flamingo pink sweater for the occasion of Valentine’s Day added with her usual red scarf. The effect was quite striking for Mikasa who only seemed to wear colors that didn’t really show off; mostly black or maroon.

“Wow Mikasa, you look nice for Valentine’s day spirit! How come I’ve never seen you wearing that sweater?”

Mikasa blushed, “well, Eren said that I should give it a try. That sweater has been in my closet for some time and I just never really wanted to wear it until he convinced me to put it on for school spirit.”

“Yeah”, said Eren pouring maple syrup before taking a bite from his waffle, “I remember her saying that Horseface thought pink would suit her better,” he said, earning a cuff on the head from Mikasa.

“Oh yeah, that sounds like something Jean would say. I heard him complaining the other day about not being able to enjoy the weekend. Probably to prep for the bio test.”

“I can’ Bewieve We ‘ave a test on Bio in thwee days!” said Eren through a mouthful of waffle while checking his phone, “I mean ‘ow does Dr. Zoe expect us to mem’rize the protein structures in two days?”

“Eww Eren, don’t talk with your mouth full,” said Mikasa, sipping tea while casually browsing the periodicals. Eren swallowed loudly and when he thought she wasn’t looking, stuck his tongue still with food in it out at her, prompting Armin to giggle at the sight.

“I saw that…”

“Well, she _did_ tell us like a week ago, Eren. I can’t believe you weren’t listening!”

“Aw come _on_ , not everyone can have the highest GPA in school like you. Five-point-five something in grade point average!”

“ _Four-point-nine eight_.” snorted Armin. It was true, he _did_ have the highest grade point average, even above Mikasa’s 4.2, and took all advanced classes. “I don’t even _think_ there’s such a thing as a five-point five in junior year of high school. We’re only allowed six classes.”

“But you’re also Junior vice president, so that has to count for something.” said Mikasa through her red scarf. But at any rate, she was right. He was the one responsible for forming school events such as the Halloween festival, the Science Tournaments (which he enthusiastically participated in), Debate Club, (his absolute strength), and Spirit days.

“Oh yea, that was fun” replied Eren, laughing, “remember on Twin day all three of us wore a red scarf and matching shirts and shoes?”

“Remember also when Hange participated in it and she wore a cravat? Levi looked angry the entire day because of it!” Armin and the others laughed as he downed the last of his orange juice.

“Hey, are these your Valentine’s day cards?” asked Eren from the other side of the room.

Armin turned around in alarm, “yes, they’re all for our junior class. There’s two in there for you guys, but you’ll have to wait until they’re delivered by the cupid.”

Every year in Valentine’s Day, part of the school spirit was to have someone chosen to dress as cupid and deliver valentines to the addressees while they were attending class. Every year there was always a tense discussion for who would be sacrificed to don the notorious get-up.

One year it had been Reiner, who took it upon himself to wear the white toga and ridiculously small wings for his size along with a cheap plastic bow and arrow kit from the dollar store that would be expected for a toddler. Not only had he dressed like an overgrown cherub, but he had also decided to dye his short blonde hair a shocking pink and perform a ridiculous lumbering dance while singing to the loved ones in an off-tune baritone. At the end of his performance, Professor Levi Ackerman looked as though he had swallowed a gallon of ammonia, but Bertolt, his addressee, turned a deep red and could only stutter. Everybody laughed though. That was Reiner- always making people laugh _with_ him, not _at_ him.

The following year had been Historia. Since she was the smallest and prettiest in junior year, she had made it all the more believable. Seeing how the costume made her look more angelic, Ymir said the costume fit her so well, that she convinced her to wear it nearly the entire day. All would have been well if Jean hadn’t made a snide comment to Eren saying that it would look good on him too, plus a bikini. Eren and Jean, who got along as well as oil and water started fighting, which knocked Jean into Historia, making the wing snap in half. Long story short, Ymir was pissed enough to kick both their asses for bumping into her little cupid. Jean refused to talk to anybody but Mikasa for the entire next day.

“You mean when _you’ll_ deliver them,” corrected Eren, smirking.

“When they’ll be-wait, what do you…” suddenly Armin froze, mouth open. “Wait- I completely forgot! No!”

“Didn’t you remember that you volunteered this year?” questioned Mikasa looking at him witheringly. “It was in ASB meeting and since nobody could do it, you decided for yourself that you would be the one!”

“But-but…”

“Besides…” began Eren “…It’s not like you don’t have time to do it. Hey what’s this?” he was reaching for the black bag.

“Wait, Eren don’t- “began Armin weakly, but too late.

Eren smirking, reached into the bag and fished out the fancy wrap of European chocolates and the open card. Opening it, he took five seconds to read over it before suddenly whooping in laughter.

“Really Armin, I had no idea that you would finally do it in this fashion!” he struggled to breath from laughter, “Hey, hey…Mikasa, hear this: Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, you’re so hot, can I go out with you?”

“Eren, it’s not funny- besides, Armin’s going to have to deliver it in the cupid costume.” This only made Armin choke out while Eren was doing a good impression of a dying man. “Remember that one time you had a crush on her and you never told her?” asked Mikasa swiftly.

Which promptly shut him up.

“It’s…well...it’s not _that_ funny. It’s just that…you’ll have to deliver it to her when you’re dressed as Cupid- I can’t imagine her face when she sees you deliver it to her in that fashion. Look on the bright side: At least she’ll be so surprised, she’ll forget to punch you!”

“I’ll do no such thing!”

“Well, Armin doesn’t have to deliver it in that style” said Mikasa putting a soothing arm around him. “He can save it for the end of the day after he’ll change back into his clothes.”

He lightened at that statement, but was still nervous. What if Annie found it revolting and decided to roundhouse kick him in the groin?

* * *

When the trio arrived at school minutes later, they found the hallways swimming in pink and red with paper chains linked around the tops of lockers like a Christmas ornament. Along the walls were decorated posters of Sweethearts candy pictures all bearing things like “Will You Be Mine?” or “I’ve Offered My Heart”. Armin and the other upperclassmen from ASB had been mainly responsible for setting the decorations in advance for Valentines, which had taken up a quarter of their day on Saturday. The hallways _did_ look spectacularly different than usual, he had to say. There were even some people that were pointing excitedly at the decorations.

“Wow Armin, did you guys do all this?” asked Eren in awe as he gazed upward at the 3D paper hearts with intricate loops hanging. “This looks awesome!”

“Yeah, well… _no_ , not _all_ of it. I had some help from Historia with the paper decorations. And of course, some help from Rico and Petra- and Oluo, since he could reach the higher places to hang it,” he said, shoulders hunched. “But overall, I think it turned out okay.”

“I think ‘okay’ is a little bit of an understatement!” exclaimed Eren reverently. "I didn’t know you were so artistic!”

“Thanks, Eren!” said Armin smiling. Despite feeling nerves creep up on him at the prospect of meeting Annie today and confess, he was content with making another successful Spirit Day where everybody was happy and laughing, eager to confess to their crushes. He wished he could confess to a certain blonde bun-wearing girl his feelings. Sighing, he made to turn around to head towards his locker, not watching where he was going-

-and nearly colliding with Annie.

“A-Annie!” exclaimed Armin, jumping back from her path hurriedly. “I-I uh…” words seemed to fail him as he properly took sight of the blonde girl who was now the center of his heartache.

She was actually not wearing a hoodie for once, which both surprised and shocked him. But then again, this must have been why he hadn’t immediately noticed her. She was wearing a red checkered shirt with sleeves that reached her elbows and which looked quite nice actually. And at the end of her bun, there was a tiny red bow attached. He had never caught her wearing anything other than black, white, or gray, so the effect it had on her fair skin and lemon colored hair, looked quite mesmerizing.

“Oh uh…hi Armin.” said Annie, looking mildly surprised at his reaction. “What’s wrong? Is everything okay?” she asked when he was still with that dumbfounded expression on his face.

“Oh uhh…nothing! Everything’s fine!” he hastily stammered, feeling his cheeks heat up. “That’s a…that’s a nice shirt,” he said, pointing unnecessarily. He mentally groaned at himself. _Really Armin, is that the best you can come up with?_

Luckily, Annie was caught unawares at his compliment, glancing down at her shirt. “Oh…this. Well, Mina _made_ me wear it, it’s not like I celebrate Valentine’s day or anything, but I had to wear it so it could shut her up-“ she stammered, feeling a bit awkward.

“I think it looks nice on you,” he blurted out. The moment he said that, he clamped a hand to his mouth, staring horrified at Annie, who seemed to have started to blush.

“Oh, uh…thank you.” She said in a small voice.

 _Oh god, he wanted to just die._ "A-anyway Annie, happy valentine’s day, so uh…see you!” and without further ado, he waved a good-bye at the star-struck blonde girl as he set off down the hallway at top speed.

"What the-?"

“Seems Prince Charming's taken a liking to you, too” said a giggling voice near Annie. Mina had arrived with Hannah and Isabel, who were now giggling madly and looking at the blonde girl with knowing looks.

“Oh shut up.” She huffed, feeling herself turn red as Mina and the others burst out laughing.

***

Armin wasted no time in heading straight to the ASB to drop off his valentines and “costume” in hopes he wouldn’t have to find anybody there. The less people he encountered, the better it would be. Marco would be arriving any second, but he wasn’t worried about him since the both of them got along very well and wouldn’t make fun of him.

“Hey Armin, how’s it going?”

Armin jumped in surprise and turned around to find Marco, smiling and attempting to unload some boxes containing some cans of soda to sell in the ASB shack. “Oh, hi Marco...” he said dully.

“What’s the matter, Armin?” said Marco in concern as he approached his blond friend. “Are you sick, or something? You don’t look too well…”

“No. I just _know_ today’s going to be a disaster…” he whispered torturously, bending his head down as he sank to the floor. “I can’t _believe_ I signed myself up to be Cupid this year!”

“What are you talking about? It’s no big deal, Armin!”

“What do you mean it’s no big deal?” croaked Armin, fingers buried in his hair and head still down. “People will laugh at me and think I look ridiculous!”

“Nonsense, Armin. I think it’s a very gallant thing to do.” Said the freckled boy confidently and patting the former on the back. “True, it might not be the thing you want to do, but think of it this way: all the people with valentines to give, will thank you for delivering it to people who haven’t yet plucked up the courage to deliver to their crushes face to face. By taking the responsibility of Cupid and of being junior vice president of the class, you show that you are brave enough to do something that others won’t be able to do!” At this, Armin looked up at Marco with a newfound look in his eyes.

“Y-you really think so?”

“Of course!” said Marco sweetly. 

“I think you’ve given me new courage to stand up for myself and to do my job!” sai dArmin, feeling himself lighten considerably.

“That’s the spirit-!” said Marco, beaming at Armin and standing up to get back to work.

“Thank you Marco, you’ve convinced me that I can do anything no matter how hard it is-!”

“-but of course, you might want to reconsider sending anything to your crush if you’re dressed in a costume,” added Marco, before exiting the ASB shack.

Armin groaned, sinking once more to the floor and burying his face in his hands. _Gee, thanks Marco._

***

In the end, Armin was reluctantly found in the deserted hallway outside of a classroom clutching a large bag filled with copious amounts of letters and donning the ridiculous cupid costume.

 _Am I really going to do this?_ He found himself thinking for the hundredth time today as he stood outside the class to his first delivery for the day. Professor Mike Zacharias’s history class.

 _People who can’t throw something away, can never hope to achieve anything!_ He repeated to himself as a mantra, clutching the bag tight. He was going to have to throw away his dignity if he wanted to fulfill his duty as Junior president. He took a deep breath, then opened the door with his sweaty hands.

At once, the heads of everyone in the class whipped back like a domino effect to stare at the blond boy wearing a toga and wings, clutching a large sack of letters. Zacharias stopped mid-lecture at the sound of the door closing. “I-err...sorry to bother you all, but I was sent to deliver a message.” Said Armin, his voice unusually high pitched than normal as he fished for the specific card in his bag. “I uh…I have a Valentine’s card to deliver. Is there a…Sharle Inocencio?”

“Me!” piped up a small light-brown haired girl in the front row, wearing small braids on either side of her head. He made his way towards her where he was greeted with giggling from girls and wolf-whistles. _Hmph, let them laugh_.

“Now, now class, settle down.” Professor Zacharias called, though his mouth was twitching.

“Thank you, err…cupid.” Said the girl happily as she looked at her card to read what it wrote. “Ha! I _knew_ it had to be from Kuklo…”

“Oh, there’s also one for you, professor, but it’s anonymous,” added Armin, as he approached the teacher and fished out a red unaddressed envelope. This time, the whole class couldn’t contain their giggles and Oohing and Ahhing. Zacharias took the letter and brought it up to his face to give it a sniff. “Hmm…Nanaba?”

Armin left the classroom shortly after, closing the door behind him and looking at the next batch of cards. Two were to be delivered to Professor Pixis’s government class. Mina and Thomas. He went to the classroom where he was expectantly met with cat-calls, but this time, Armin held more confidence and barely acknowledged them.

So far so good. He mostly delivered to the freshman and sophomore classes, but still, a good few of those classes held quite a number of juniors like he as well. And so far, he hadn’t met Annie ONCE.

 _I must have the greatest luck as a matter of fact_ he thought in wry humor, scratching off the list of letters he had delivered.

It was then that he took a look at the next one on the list that really made him regret jinxing himself. This one was delivered to Mylius, but that wasn’t what got his heart going.

Annie was in that class.

 

 

 **Armin:** r u there Eren? Reply plz!!!

 **Eren:** Hey Arm, wats up? r u ok?

 **Armin:** Eren, you gotta help me!! Im in truble!! Dx

 **Eren:** DID THE BULLIES BEAT U UP?? Hang on Im coming! Where r u??

 **Armin:** NOO NO IM FINE! I WANTED TO ASK U SMTHING!!

 **Eren:** Oh. Wat is it arm? tell me what’s wrong :O

 **Armin:** R u free rite now?

 **Eren:** is that any way to ask me for a date? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 **Armin:** im serious Eren!!!

 **Eren:** Ok ok yeah I am. wat is it?

 **Armin:** I hav to deliver Mylius's letter to a class where annie is at! Can you come here and deliver it to him?? xO

 **Eren:** sure I can help! Hange letting us talk and do whatever rite now, so I’ll be there. Where u at?

 **Armin:** Thanks so so much eren! I owe u one! I’m outside Mrs. Barnes’s class in room 210.

 **Eren:** nah, you’ve helped me with hw lots of times. So…has any1 told you yet how cute u look in the cupid costume? ;-]

 **Armin:** EREN GET UR ASS OVER HERE NOW!

 **Eren:** kk xD

Eren jogged down the hallway in less than a minute later to meet him, glancing here and there for any sign of teachers, especially Mr. Ackerman who would not hesitate to put him in detention. Luckily, the hallways were deserted since students were in class. “Phew, good thing Dr. Zoe’s so hyped up on science, otherwise I would’ve never left.”

“Eren, I’m so sorry, but there’s no time!” Armin said, thrusting the letter into his hands. “I need you to deliver this to Mylius! And get my wings off so I can put them on you!”

“Ha, don’t worry, I got this, just chill Armin.” said Eren confidently. It took nearly half a minute to take the wings off Eren and put them on himself due to the complicated layout of the straps, but they finally managed to do it without anyone passing by.

Armin immediately engulfed Eren in a hug once they were done switching, some tears threatening to spill, “thank you sooo much Eren, you’re the best friend ever! You’re like…like my guardian angel!”

Eren snorted, “isn’t that what _you_ are?” Nevertheless, he glowed with pride at the compliment from his blond best friend. “Ok, here I go!” he said, stepping forward to open the door to the class. “Wish me luck!”

Since the class was in transition phase, only those closest to the door caught sight of the entrance of the teal-eyed teen wearing angel wings who had just appeared. This gave Eren an opportunity to approach Mylius who was engaged in some kind of group project. To his slight dismay, he saw Annie in the same table with him, arms crossed and with a bored expression.

“Hey Eren, what’s up?” asked Mylius.

“Err…Mylius, happy Valentine’s…somebody sent this to you.” He handed over the card which had a chocolate bar wrapped on it.

“Oh, thanks Eren. That must be from Juliet. She said she was going to-. But then, Mylius stopped, as though suddenly remembering something as he looked at Eren up and down. “-wait a minute, you’re Cupid? I thought this year was actually going to be Ar-"

“Hey man, happy valentine’s day! Glad she sent you that Mylius, but I really have to go deliver more, bye!” said Eren hurriedly before Mylius could finish that sentence. He glanced to the left to see Annie looking confused, eyes narrowing as she stared at him, but Eren gave one last nervous wave and bounded towards the door to leave before anybody could say anything.

_Phew, that was close!_

Once outside, he looked down the hall on both sides to find Armin peering round the corner near the snack machine, head swiveled all around for any teachers that might be prowling. Once he saw Eren, he quickly approached him, taking his bag from him.

“Well, I did as you asked,” smirked Eren, proceeding to take the wings off his body and helping Armin put them back on. “You look much better in this than me. Plus, I saw Annie in his group. Don’t worry- she didn’t suspect a thing.”

“Thanks a million, Eren!” said Armin. “I hope Hange doesn’t chastise you for leaving for several minutes!”

“Hange? Pff, nah, she’s chill. She never loses her temper with students. Besides, it’s thanks to you she likes me. I wouldn’t have been able to pass her tests without your help!”

Armin blushed, finally stepping back to fix his toga and straightening out his wings one last time gently so as not to disrupt the feathers. “How do I look then?” he asked, his blond fringe in the way of his eyes nervously.

“Like an angel ready to deliver.” Smirked Eren.

_“Ereeen!”_

“What?-It looks good on you!” said Eren, laughing. “Anyway, catch you later, I got to go back to class. Good luck delivering the rest of the letters Armin!” Armin waved him off, feeling immensely relieved for the moment, yet anxious for the rest of the day to go by.

 

 

Armin counted his lucky stars that he hadn’t bumped into Annie or Bertolt and Reiner. Knowing Reiner, he would’ve taunted him relentlessly with the fact that he looked as angelic as Historia. He had been confused for her in the past when Historia had decided at one time that she looked cute in short hair. He had Ymir to thank for that who stated she liked her better with longer hair.

It was towards the end of the day when he had really begun to feel nervous about presenting Annie with his gift that caused him to forget the fact that she was leaving early today…and Marco would be arriving late to the ASB office.

Which meant that he wouldn’t be able to change out of his costume.

“Shit!” he shouted out loud, kicking the door to the locked ASB office. There was no way he was going to be able to get in now. His eyes darted everywhere around for something to his hopeless predicament. There was nothing he could do. Nothing.

“Armin?”

“Ahhhh!”

He slipped clumsily, falling onto the floor. Not only had he slipped to the ground, but he had the unfortunate luck of falling into a puddle of muddy water left over from the rain the previous day. His white toga was now splattered with mud as well as the lower parts of his bare legs. Luckily, he hadn’t fallen flat on his face.

“Are you okay, Armin?” she asked, one eyebrow cocked and looking at him in concern.

“Oh, err…h-hey Annie, y-yeah I’m fine!” Armin stuttered, as he tried desperately to dab away at the mud in his toga and legs. Annie didn’t say anything for a moment, her crystal eyes widening in complete astonishment, and Armin was willing to bet that the only reason she hadn’t said anything or punched him yet, was for the fact that he had stunned her into silence with his costume. He knew he looked the absolute worse.

“Err…It’s n-not what it looks like!” he burst out again, attempting to gain composure.

“Then what does it look like, then?” she asked, eyebrow cocked as he stared at him up and down. Are you-are you wearing an angel’s costume?”

“I’m- I’m supposed to be Cupid, see?” he said weakly, “You know…for ASB valentine’s delivering?” he tried gifting her a smile which he thought might have made him look even more stupid.

A pause, then. “I see…”.

“And…and I have something for you.” He finished lamely. Her eyebrows raised in bemusement.

 _Good Lord, he was finished_. He took out the heart-shaped package of European chocolates he had took the time in wrapping with the card which were both thankfully dry. He took a large step forward with the items, nearly thrusting it in her arms as though worried she would shrink back.

She took the pair cautiously because…why not? Her eyes darted up to Armin in a dumbfounded look, though Armin chose at that point to stare at the ground which had suddenly become interesting. “Y-you have to o-open it” he mumbled unnecessarily to the asphalt. Vaguely, he rather preferred her beating him up than make him go through the torture of embarrassing himself in front of her.

Annie hesitantly opened the letter with shaking hands, finally fishing out the small card with the limerick. At the end of the line, her eyes widened considerably, and she could feel her cheeks heating up even more. Did he-?

“L-look, you know what?” stuttered Armin, finding himself inarticulate for the first time in his life. “you don’t have to take it if you don’t want to…I’ll-I’ll understand…you’re p-probably offended and I’m pathetic and-I just wanted to say that…that I really enjoyed talking to you and you’re a good person and- .”. He must have been too preoccupied with the situation to notice the sound of heavy footsteps approaching around the corner.

Lo and behold, it was not only Reiner and Bertolt who appeared, but Connie, Sasha, Jean, Marco, Mikasa, Eren, Ymir, and Historia. The whole entire gang, who had stumbled upon the scene unexpectedly and were now observing it flummoxed.

 _This day could not have gone any worse!_ he thought, horrified. He might as well drop dead from embarrassment.

“Hey, look who it is- it’s Charmin’ Armin and the Lone Wolf!” cackled Ymir, staring at the pair of them. Historia frowned at her girlfriend, but didn’t say anything. Reiner was making wolf-whistles, and Jean had an expression that was torn between revulsion yet curiosity. Mikasa looked worried, not understanding.

“What’s going on you two?” came Connie’s voice, looking at the two of them- who were currently rooted to the spot. He looked towards Annie to find her with a definite pink tinge on her cheeks.

However, it was Armin who broke the silence to address Annie, wo now turned to look at him, still too stunned for words. “A-Anyway Annie, if you don’t like it, you can j-just throw it away and stuff., ‘KAY BYE!” he hoarsely shouted out before sprinting away, his heart thumping through his Adam’s apple.

“Hey Armin what’re you-” called out Eren. But their residential cupid had taken flight.

***

Armin ran until he couldn’t breathe anymore and found himself in the woods outside of the school, close to the park. Taking care of his surroundings and clutching the stitch in his cheek, he noticed he was alone. There were voices far off in the distance, but they were barely out of earshot. He slumped against a large sycamore tree, rubbing his side and still wheezing out of breath.

He cursed himself. This was more embarrassing than finishing last in the mile in P.E for the boy’s one time while everybody else stood waiting. Sasha and Mikasa and even Historia were physical stronger than him, so why couldn’t he? He’d always been bullied for his weakness, and now, he felt just as weak for failing to even talk to Annie about his feelings for her. She probably hated him. No wonder she didn’t say anything when he gave her those pathetic Valentine’s Day gifts.

_I can’t seem to do anything! Why couldn’t I have been able to speak to her right?_

“Oy, it’s Aryan Coconut!”

Armin whipped his head up so fast, his hair went flying back to see three familiar guys he wished could have disappeared the moment he saw them. Josh, Garrett, and Sully. His three bullies.

“What’re ya doing here?” spat one of the bullies- Sully, who was the leader.

“Look, coconut head’s trying to be a fairy!” snickered Garrett, the idiot of the group who always followed the two around.

“You think he’s dressed up like a fairy cause he wants to get adopted by them?” hooted Josh. Armin clenched his fists around the muddy toga in anger and grit his teeth, but didn’t say anything as he sat, staring away from them. Whenever they brought up the fact that he only lived with his grandpa, he would feel rage within him.

“Oi, nerd, you think you’re actually a fairy? Why don’t you shake some fairy dust?” Armin continued to stay silent. If he ignored them, they might get bored and walk away, though, deep down, he knew there was a smaller chance of that happening. “Leave me alone! I don’t want to pick a fight with you!”

The three boys looked at one another before suddenly laughing out boisterously. “Hey fairy boy, why don’t you try saying that to our faces?” they cackled, approaching him.

Armin knew what was coming. He was no match for the punches and kicks as he shielded his face and any other sensitive parts from their hits. While they were laughing, tearing at his wings and shouting insults, he could feel tears welling up in his eyes from the pain. He was pathetic. He was just lying here and taking the pain like a coward. His voice formed a strangled cry of despair.

“Ha, cry all you want, little fairy boy. Ackerman or that crazy Jaeger kid isn’t here to save you!”

“No, but I will.”

Despite the pain, Armin gasped out at the familiar voice rang out, while he lay curled in a fetal position on the ground. He angled his head to find Annie, blonde bangs framing her face, eyes narrowed in an expression capable to intimidate. Her eyes found his, blue-grey orbs widening at his position on the ground before darting up to stare directly at his bullies with a cold look.

“Oh shit, it’s her!” cried out Sully, and the boys made to turn away and run.

Too late. Annie was faster than all three of them, descending upon them in a flash of punches and kicks that sent the boys soon stumbling and flying backwards unto their backs. He straightened up, clutching the ripped toga to his bare chest as he watched in horrified interest as she took out Sully, the biggest one, with a swift kick to the stomach, making his gasp out in pain with tears in his eyes.

At the end, the three bullies lost their wits, stumbling on top of one another to run away, slipping on leaves and forest roots, crying and yelling out in fear before finally disappearing. Then, there was silence.

“You okay?" Her voice no longer held the icy intimidating tone, but now replaced by a concerned one as she watched him from above.

Armin noticed with humiliation that he had frozen tears in his eyes. He quickly wiped them away, averting his eyes from her “Thank you Annie, but- but you don’t have to help me. I-"

“Oh _sure_ , Arlert, you’re wobbling on your legs and you’ve got bruises on your arms. Of _course_ you’re fine.” She huffed skeptically. She inwardly winced however, when his toga skirt hitched up to reveal a purplish bruise on his quad. _Those damn boys!_ She was going to pummel them if she ever saw them at the school again. She took a good look at Armin to find him not meeting her eyes and trying to wipe his teary face.

“L-look Annie, I’m sorry…” came his defeated tone as she helped guide him towards the sycamore tree to place him down before sitting opposite him.

“About what?” she asked, baffled as she got a good look at his state of wear. His toga was ripped in places and caked in mud and one of his wings was torn in places, the other hanging lopsided. His hair looked disheveled, sticking out in some places, yet despite his state, there was something undeniably hot how he looked.

Yes, he could be looking worse for wear, and she would _still_ always find the boy undeniably attractive with his bowl-cut hair and big blue innocent eyes that could melt her cold exterior away. 

“A-about before...” here, Armin trailed off, lost for words. His cheeks were red, she noticed, but not from the fight earlier. _Was he...blushing_?

He wanted to apologize for all of this. For having her save him when he was too much of a coward to reveal his feelings in front of her, for having her beat up his bullies, and having to see him in this pathetic state. This was not at all how he wanted his day to go.

“I-I’m sorry Annie!” he gasped out, his face now turned to the side as he ran his fingers through his hair in a gesture of nerves. “I-I can’t seem to do anything right! Every time I see you, I-I just don’t know what to do! I get sick in my stomach every time you’re near me and…and I’m unable to talk! I didn’t want you to see me like this because I thought you’d laugh and find it pathetic. I couldn’t even talk to you to tell you that I have liked you for some time, but I was too scared to tell you or anyone!” Armin paused, taking a breath, nerves already going haywire before continuing. “I-I like how you’re so strong, how you’re able to take out guys on your own without any fear at all- I like how your eyes look when the sun hits them during Professor Levi’s class and how they remind me of the ocean! And- and I know people make fun of you because of your nose, but…but I wanted to say that-that I’ve always liked the way you look with it and- how it makes you look cute!”

He paused, taking a gamble to look at Annie, who now looked completely frozen as though she was a statue. Her eyes widening in complete disbelief. She must have been daydreaming.

He continued on: "You’ve…you’ve _always_ been a good person to me, and I like the way you look. If-If you really hate me, I swear I will never bother you again and we can forget this never happened! If you want, you can-you can hit me.”

At the end of that statement, he could feel his face turning red, taking a breath as he tried to compose himself. He couldn’t bear to look at Annie right now who had been dead silent the entire time staring at him. It seemed a long time, though it was probably only ten seconds before Annie could finally find her voice again.

“Armin."

“Yes?”

“Look at me.”

“ _I can’t!_ ”

“Yes you _can_ , Armin. Stop being such a wuss.” But there was a gentleness in her tone that Armin had never heard her use before, and he loved the way she said his name. He sighed, finally forcing himself to see Annie, face pink on her usually pale complexion gazing at him in an almost considering way, blue irises larger than usual. _She looks so cute!_ he thought in misery.

“That’s much better.” She said, satisfied. He closed his briefly, unable to look at her face so close to his. He could feel butterflies threatening to burst through his chest as he tried to keep his words from becoming jumbled. “Annie, I wanted to say I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble and-"

But before he could reply, he was jolted to a feeling of warm lips against his own, making him squeak in surprise.

“Wha…!”

She drew back, and now, it was his turn to look completely incredulous. Did Annie, the bad girl and strongest judo fighter in the entire school just… _kiss him_?

“A-Annie, why did you-!”

“I’ve felt the same way about you for a long time, Armin, and...and you’re the only person who has bothered to send me something like this.” she finished, feeling her heart beat faster than when she ran the mile.

Armin could feel his stomach performing backflips, yet an incredible light sensation. He must be dreaming…there was _no way_ real-life Annie would ever say that to him. Heck, not even in his wildest dreams!

“You-you do?” As a way to answer, she smiled, showing bright white teeth, and the gesture made Armin lose the rest of his tension behind as he grabbed her and brought her in for another kiss, which she gladly returned. He could feel himself melting into her mouth. Distantly, he could feel the smooth taste of something like chocolate in her mouth. _Had she eaten one of the chocolates he gave her?_   Her soft lips against his lit his whole body aflame, as they both panted in between lip-locked. This was better than reading a book or getting good grades, better than visiting the ocean for the first time. Better than- 

“Wow!”

Both Annie and Armin broke away from the kiss as though electrocuted as the awed voice of Eren rang through the clearing. Not only was Eren and Mikasa here, looking worried for wear, but the _entire_ group as well.

“E-Eren? G-guys? How-how long have you been standing there?!” he squeaked out, staring at each of them.

“Long enough,” affirmed Jean, smirking at the pair of them freezing in mid-motion like two miniature statues.

“Ha, wow Arlert, didn’t know you had it in you.” Snorted Ymir.

“Guys, c’mon!” pleaded Marco. It looked like he had been trying to keep the others from interrupting them.

“Oh c’mon Marco, this is way more important than grades! Our little Armin is trying to confess to the love of his life!” guffawed Reiner.

Eren and Mikasa stood there, not moving, not saying anything. But he could have sworn he saw Eren wink at him from behind Reiner’s back.

Surprisingly, it was Annie who spoke up with a clear businesslike face and a tone left for no more argument. “All of you, clear out. Right NOW. Me and Arlert are going to resolve some unfinished business.” She helped him up, and, since everybody was looking, gave him two pecks one on each side of his cheeks, making him turn impossibly red. The crowd Oohed and cat-calls and cheering were heard from Reiner, Ymir and Connie.

“Happy Valentine’s day, Armin.” she whispered to him, giving him one more kiss on the cheek for good measure.

Light and airy with happiness, Armin returned a smile. “Happy Valentine’s day, Annie,” he murmured, as the pair of them, hand-in-hand, left a crowd of jaw-dropping mouths in their wake.


End file.
